The story
East Yorkshire originated in two companies, Lee & Beaulah (set up by Ernest John Lee) and Hull & District Motor Services (set up by H. A. Harvey). In October 1926, British Electric Traction purchased the two companies and incorporated a new company, East Yorkshire Motor Services Ltd, which remains the legal name of the company.
In 1968, the British Electric Traction group was sold to the Transport Holding Company, which in turn became the National Bus Company in the following year.
Until 1972, the company's livery was dark blue with a primrose band, with a white relief band also applied to the roofline of buses. Shortly after East Yorkshire was brought under National Bus Company ownership, the primrose band was changed to white and buses were given NBC corporate fleet names. This proved to be short-lived, with the adapted livery being replaced by the standard "poppy" red in October 1973.
Deregulation
In 1987, following the deregulation of bus services, East Yorkshire's fleet, which had since dropped to 200 vehicles and shared management with Lincolnshire Road Car, started to grow again. The company was sold in a management buyout, which was led by seven managers. In the same year, the company acquired former United Automobile Services depots in Pickering and Scarborough, with operations rebranded Scarborough & District.
Following the management buyout, East Yorkshire began to expand, acquiring many independent operators in the local area, including Connor & Graham, Cottingham Mini Coaches and Primrose Valley Coaches. The Hardwick's of Scarborough fleet was purchased from Wallace Arnold – this being Wallace Arnold's last bus company.
At the time of privatisation, the livery was silver and blue, with some vehicles branded in the National Bus Company's "poppy" red livery or silver, blue and red minibus livery. The "poppy" red buses were subsequently rebranded into a red and grey livery. In Kingston upon Hull, a number of AEC Routemaster double-deck vehicles entered service in traditional East Yorkshire livery to compete with Kingston upon Hull City Transport. The company also suffered competition from Appleby's of Conisholme in Bridlington, Hull and Scarborough, prior to the competitor's sale to the Bowen Transport Group in December 2000.
In 1992, the company completed their first out-of-area acquisition with Finglands Coachways, with further purchases that year including Hull-based Metro Citybus, as well as Rhodes Coaches and Thornton Dale Coaches.
By the turn of the decade, the company had made a significant number of acquisitions: Connor & Graham of Easington (1993), Hart Coaches of Stockton-on-Tees (1995), former GM Buses coaching arm Charterplan (1996), Hollings Coaches of North Shields (1996), former Busways Travel Services coach operator Armstrong Galley (1997), and former KHCT coaching subsidiary Kingstonian Travel Services (1997).
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In January 2004, the company proceeded with a second out-of-area acquisition, with the purchase of Whittle Coach & Bus of Kidderminster. In December 2014, the coach operation was sold to Johnsons Coach & Bus Travel.
In March 2009, the company purchased the Hull-based operations of Veolia Transport. The sale saw all driving and engineering staff transferred to East Yorkshire Motor Services, along with services and nine vehicles.
In May 2014, the company's Driffield depot was closed, with most staff, services and vehicles reallocated to nearby depots. In the same month, the company commenced commercial operation of the Moors Explorer ME1 service, which replaced the former Moorsbus M13 and M14 services. The service operates on Sunday and bank holidays between May and August, running between Hessle, Hull, Beverley and Danby via Malton and Pickering – closely following the route of the former services.
In May 2015, East Yorkshire Motor Services was the first operator in the United Kingdom to take delivery of the MCV EvoSeti. Following further deliveries in January 2017 and September 2017, an additional eighteen vehicles were added to the fleet.
In May 2018, the company's Hornsea depot was closed, with the depot's 27 drivers and engineers offered roles elsewhere in the company. The following year, it was announced that the company's Beverley depot was to be closed, with operations relocated to Hull.
Finglands Coachways
The company's first out-of-area expansion was in early 1992, following the purchase of Finglands Coachways of Rusholme. In October 1995, the original Stagecoach Manchester operation, then a subsidiary of Stagecoach Ribble operating 13 buses primarily on route 192, was also purchased.
In August 2013, FirstGroup announced that subject to regulatory approval by the Office of Fair Trading, it had agreed to purchase the bus operations of Finglands Coachways. The sale included the lease of the company's depot in Rusholme, as well as routes, and approximately 100 members of staff – but no vehicles. The deal was approved in January 2014, with First Greater Manchester taking over on operations in February 2014.
In October 2013, East Yorkshire Motor Services sold the Finglands Coachways coach charter business to Bullocks Coaches.
Whittle Bus & Coach
Whittle Bus & Coach of Kidderminster was acquired by East Yorkshire Motor Services in January 2004. This was the second major out-of-area acquisition for the company, following the management buyout in February 1987. The business operated a total of 50 vehicles at the time of purchase, running bus services in rural Shropshire and Worcestershire.
In December 2014, the coach operation was sold to Johnsons Coach & Bus Travel, along with nine coaches. Following the sale, the company's National Express contracted services were transferred to other operators, with local bus services withdrawn in January 2015.
Go-Ahead Group ownership
In June 2018, East Yorkshire Motor Services was acquired by the Go-Ahead Group, bringing an end to 30 years of family ownership. Following the acquisition, the company was organised to run as a standalone company within Go North East. In October 2018, the company invested a total of £1 million in new Ticketer smart ticket machines, which have the ability to accept contactless and mobile payments.
In March 2019, a new livery and corporate branding was announced. Under the changes, the trading name for the company was changed to East Yorkshire, with a new typeface and logo design, with the white rose of Yorkshire replacing the letter O and forming part of the logo. The new corporate branding was launched at an event at KCOM Stadium, with two vehicles displayed in the new livery.
In June 2022, it was announced that East Yorkshire was to be split from Go North East, becoming a separate company of the Go-Ahead Group. Following the departure of Martijn Gilbert at Go North East in August 2022, Ben Gilligan, who previously served as East Yorkshire's Area Director since the company's takeover, was promoted to the company's Managing Director. Gilligan departed East Yorkshire in January 2026 to become the managing director of Go North East amid a group reorganisation, with Go North West operations director Matt Ashton filling the role on an interim basis; former Stagecoach Yorkshire, Southern Vectis and Bluestar MD Matt Kitchin is to fill the role from summer 2026.
East Yorkshire was handed responsibility for four North and West Yorkshire-based coach companies acquired by the Go-Ahead Group in May 2024, taking on 200 staff members and 140 vehicles from these companies, whose operations are to be retained as separate subsidiaries of East Yorkshire. These companies were Compass Royston of Middlesbrough, Esk Valley Coaches of Whitby, Fourway Coaches of Leeds and Procters Coaches of Leeming Bar. A fifth company, Morse Coaches of Sheriff Hutton, was acquired and placed under East Yorkshire's management in December 2025.
From Wikipedia’s article on East Yorkshire (bus company), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4